Monthly Archives: November 2009

The battle of the sexes heats up in Columbia Pictures’ comedy The Ugly Truth. Abby Richter (Katherine Heigl) is a romantically challenged morning show producer whose search for Mr. Perfect has left… The battle of the sexes heats up in Columbia Pictures’ comedy The Ugly Truth.

Abby Richter (Katherine Heigl) is a romantically challenged morning show producer whose search for Mr. Perfect has left her hopelessly single.

She’s in for a rude awakening when her bosses team her with Mike Chadway (Gerard Butler), a hardcore TV personality who promises to spill the ugly truth on what makes men and women tick.

Producer Jerry Bruckheimer brings his first 3-D film to the big screen with G-Force, a comedy adventure about the latest evolution of a covert government program to train animals to work in… Producer Jerry Bruckheimer brings his first 3-D film to the big screen with G-Force, a comedy adventure about the latest evolution of a covert government program to train animals to work in espionage.

Armed with the latest high-tech spy equipment, these highly trained guinea pigs discover that the fate of the world is in their paws.

Tapped for the G-Force are guinea pigs Darwin (voice of SAM ROCKWELL), the squad leader determined to succeed at all costs; Blaster (voice of TRACY MORGAN), an outrageous weapons expert with tons of attitude and a love for all things extreme; and Juarez (voice of PENELOPE CRUZ), a sexy martial arts pro; plus the literal fly-on-the-wall reconnaissance expert, Mooch, and a star-nosed mole, Speckles (voice of NICOLAS CAGE), the computer and information specialist.

adaptation of two bestselling memoirs: Powell’s Julie & Julia and My Life in France, by Julia Child with Alex Prud’homme. Based on two true stories, Julie & Julia intertwines the lives of two women who, though separated by time and space, are both at loose ends…

until they discover that with the right combination of passion, fearlessness and butter, anything is possible.

Based on the wildly popular bestseller from Sex and the City scribes Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo, He’s Just Not That Into You tells the stories of a group of interconnected, Baltimore-based twenty- and thirtysomethings as they navigate their various relationships from the shallow end of the dating pool through the deep, murky waters of married life, trying to read the signs of the opposite sex… and hoping to be the exceptions to the “no-exceptions” rule. Gigi just wants a man who says he’ll call–and does–while Alex advises her to stop sitting by the phone. Beth wonders if she should call it off after years of committed singlehood with her boyfriend, Neil, but he doesn’t think there’s a single thing wrong with their unmarried life. Janine’s not sure if she can trust her husband, Ben, who can’t quite trust himself around Anna. Anna can’t decide between the sexy married guy, or her straightforward, no-sparks standby, Conor, who can’t get over the fact that he can’t have her. And Mary, who’s found an entire network of loving, supportive men, just needs to find one who’s straight.

If you’ve ever sat by the phone wondering why he said he would call, but didn’t, or if you can’t figure out why she doesn’t want to sleep with you anymore, or why your relationship just isn’t going to the next level… he (or she) is just not that into you. The film boasts an all-star cast, including Academy Award® winner Ben Affleck (Good Will Hunting, Hollywoodland) as Neil; Jennifer Aniston (Marley & Me) as Beth; Drew Barrymore (Music and Lyrics) as Mary; Academy Award® winner Jennifer Connelly (A Beautiful Mind, The Day the Earth Stood Still) as Janine; Kevin Connolly (HBO’s Entourage) as Conor; Bradley Cooper (Yes Man) as Ben; Ginnifer Goodwin (Walk the Line, HBO’s Big Love) as Gigi; Scarlett Johansson (Vicky Cristina Barcelona) as Anna; Kris Kristofferson (Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story) as Ken; and Justin Long (Live Free or Die Hard) as Alex. A New Line Cinema Presentation, a Flower Films Production, He’s Just Not That Into You is directed by Ken Kwapis (Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, NBC’s The Office) from a screenplay by Abby Kohn & Marc Silverstein (Never Been Kissed), based on the book by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo. Nancy Juvonen produced the film, with Drew Barrymore, Toby Emmerich, Michele Weiss and Michael Beugg serving as executive producers and Michael Disco and Gwenn Stroman co-producing.

The behind-the-scenes creative team is led by director of photography John Bailey (Must Love Dogs), production designer Gae Buckley (The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2), editor Cara Silverman (Keith), costume designer Shay Cunliffe (The Bourne Ultimatum), composer Cliff Eidelman (The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants), and Grammy Award-winning music supervisor Danny Bramson (Mission: Impossible III, Almost Famous). He’s Just Not That Into You will be distributed domestically by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

Poor Jerry Lundegaard. He’s deep in debt. His wealthy father-in-law has no respect for him. He cheats customers at the car dealership where he works. And now he’s hired a bumbling duo to kidnap his wife–a plan that goes horribly awry, leading to homicide. Enter Marge Gunderson, one of the most fabulous movie cops in film history. The very-pregnant Marge–played marvelously by Frances McDormand in an Oscar-winning and career-defining performance–just goes about her everyday business, eating (in nearly every scene), talking to the people in the community, and examining bloody corpses as if no day is different from the next.

A multiple murder in the small town of Brainerd, Minnesota–home of Paul Bunyan, as the sign claims–seems to have little effect on her. Yet she has an innate cop sense–she is very, very good at her job and determined to solve the case in her offhanded manner. FARGO is yet another offbeat, highly entertaining film from the Coen brothers (BARTON FINK, BLOOD SIMPLE). The film is nearly colorless; instead, director of photography Roger Deakins washes the screen in the blinding white of the snow, occasionally breaking for the drab grays and browns of police uniforms and winter jackets.

Carter Burwell’s score further enhances the slow, steady pace of this oddly funny and compelling film. The Coens have once again populated their film with a slew of bizarre characters, with outstanding performances delivered by all, particularly the edgy William H. Macy, the quietly luminous McDormand, the nearly psychotic Steve Buscemi, and the oh-so-cold Peter Stormare.

In spite of the title, THE LIMITS OF CONTROL constantly reveals the controlling hand of its creator, the indie icon Jim Jarmusch. The film follows Jarmusch regular Isaach de Bankole as he ambles… In spite of the title, THE LIMITS OF CONTROL constantly reveals the controlling hand of its creator, the indie icon Jim Jarmusch. The film follows Jarmusch regular Isaach de Bankole as he ambles through various parts of Spain on an ambiguous criminal mission. Credited as the “Lone Man,” de Bankole encounters a series of oddly disguised accomplices and absorbs their one-sided philosophical musings, all the while piecing together the nature of his assignment. This narrative sounds more compelling in summary than it is on screen, but if you are seeing a Jarmusch picture in hopes of a scintillating story, then you are as confused as the characters from his more memorable films.

The sole disappointment of this film is that, despite the overwhelming strangeness of the action (or lack thereof), none of the characters display any confusion or uncertainty, as they assuredly assess the events and still find time to practice tai chi and pontificate about music, film, science, and painting. The film is rigorously structured: each encounter invokes a definitive theme that clicks firmly into place by the conclusion. The individual scenes are entirely enjoyable, as a white-blond Tilda Swinton discusses Welles and Hitchcock, and John Hurt rasps about the depiction of Spanish bohemians in art and literature. Despite Jarmusch’s domineering presence, it is the brilliant work of his collaborators, particularly cinematographer Christopher Doyle and editor Jay Rabinowitz, that shimmers in the memory of the viewer after the final shot.

Doyle makes every line, curve, and diagonal in his frames vibrate with hints of radiant significance, and his ethereal images of the Almerian landscape often draw our attention from the artificial metaphysical dialogue. Jarmusch fans will be delighted by this perplexing metaphor of a film, which aims to symbolize and summarize the whole of existence through its myriad parts.

My Rating: 2.5/5STARS
MovieStudio Quote>>“Isla Fisher is the prettiest, but this financial movie was not for her!”

Based on a pair of effervescent novels by Sophie Kinsella, CONFESSIONS OF A SHOPAHOLIC is a light and bubbly confection that should appeal to those who can identify with its heroine’s passion…. Based on a pair of effervescent novels by Sophie Kinsella, CONFESSIONS OF A SHOPAHOLIC is a light and bubbly confection that should appeal to those who can identify with its heroine’s passion.

Rebecca Bloomwood (Isla Fisher, WEDDING CRASHERS) has a label-filled wardrobe that any fashionista would covet, but she also has credit card debt to match. She craves a job at the Vogue-like Alette, but a position at a financial magazine at the same publishing company may be her ticket in. Despite her painfully low credit rating, Becky starts dishing out advice on saving, while debt collector Derek Smeath (character actor Robert Stanton) is hot on her Louboutin heels.

Meanwhile, she is competing for the affections of her charming boss, Luke Brandon (Hugh Dancy, THE JANE AUSTEN BOOK CLUB), with icy Alette employee Alicia Billington (Leslie Bibb, IRON MAN). A well-heeled hybrid of SEX AND THE CITY and THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA, SHOPAHOLIC features the talents of Patricia Field, costume designer for those two films. The clothes are almost on an equal footing with the actors here, and each well-chosen piece in Manhattan shop windows or worn by Bloomwood helps contribute to the film’s bright mood. A lesser actress might have been lost in all the colors, but Fisher is a formidable comic presence who pulls off Becky’s ditzy lines and goofy falls with equal aplomb. Those hoping for a smart discourse on the perils of credit cards and excess spending are certainly watching the wrong film, but SHOPAHOLIC may just be the fashion equivalent of food porn for dieters.

Inspired by Ron and Judi Barrett’s beloved children’s book of the same name, CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS follows inventor Flint Lockwood (voice of Bill Hader) and brainy weathergirl Sam… Inspired by Ron and Judi Barrett’s beloved children’s book of the same name, CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS follows inventor Flint Lockwood (voice of Bill Hader) and brainy weathergirl Sam Sparks (voice of Anna Faris) as they attempt to discover why the rain in their small town has stopped while food is falling in its place.

Meanwhile, lifelong bully Brent (voice of Adam Samberg) relishes in tormenting Flint just as he did when they were kids, and Mayor Shelbourne (voice of Bruce Campbell) schemes to use Flint’s latest invention–a device designed to improve everyone’s lives–for his own personal gain.

My Rating: 4/5STARS
MovieStudio Quote>>“The only way to survival is to run away from the carriers!”

Piper Perabo, Chris Pine, Emily VanCamp, and Josh Berry star in this apocalyptic tale of a viral pandemic that sweeps

across the United States, and four fleeing friends who discover that they are… Piper Perabo, Chris Pine, EmilyVanCamp,

and Josh Berry star in this apocalyptic tale of a viral pandemic that sweeps across the United States, and four fleeing friends who discover that they are far more dangerous to one another than any airborne pathogen.

When 9 (The Lord of the Ring’s Elijah Wood) first comes to life, he finds himself in a post-apocalyptic world. All humans are gone, and it is only by chance that he discovers a small community of others like him taking refuge from fearsome machines that roam the earth intent on their extinction. Despite being the neophyte of the group, 9 convinces the others that hiding will do them no good. They must take the offensive if they are to survive, and they must discover why the machines want to destroy them in the first place. As they’ll soon come to learn, the very future of civilization may depend on them.